Egypt has been preparing to make a formal request for the return of the Rosetta Stone, the ancient artefact which helped to unlock the secrets of the pharaoh, from the British Museum.

The Times of London reports that, "Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said he is preparing to "fight" for the restitution of the stone which has been on display in the museum in London since 1802."

He considers the pinkish-gray tablet - the key to deciphiring hieroglyphs - as one of the most vital treasures stolen from Egypt that currently take pride of place in western collections that dates from 196 B.C.

Hawass wants Great Britain to hand it back in time for the opening of a new museum near the pyramids at Gaza in 2013. The demand immediately follows the decades-old dispute between Britain and Greece over the Edgin Marbles.

According to the Times, "the Rosetta Stone was discovered by French soldiers in 1799 in the Nile delta town of et-Rashid, or Rosetta. On Napoleon's defeat in 1801, the artefact was taken by British troops and shipped to London."

The 3 ft. 9 in. by 2 ft. 4 in. stone has an inscription with a decree regarding the royal cult of Ptolemy V., a 13-year-old pharaoh. It appears in three scripts: hieroglyphs; demotic, the historic Egyptian script utilized for daily communication; and classical Greek.

In 1822, French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered the ancient symbols by comparing the pictorial hieroglyphs with their Greek equivalent, which was a breakthrough in comprehending Egyptian civilization.

At first, Hawass asked the British museum to lend the Rosetta Stone to Egypt as a temporary display. Yet, he felt outraged when trustees demanded that he provide assurances the stone would be safe.

To read the entire article from the Times of London, link here:

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Comments (1)

Comment	smaller | bigger
Name
Write the displayed characters
Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.
	Add Comment